Banzai Street food are just one of many street food vendors located in the newly refurbished Cornhill Market at Lincoln.

The food from Chef May is described as ‘Freshly cooked Asian fusion street food… curries, burgers, loaded fries as more inspired by the Far East‘.

If the name sounds familiar then you may have encounterd them on their travels with their Street Food Truck

Nowadays they have moved into the Lincoln Cornhill market were they have a menu above the counter offering all sorts from Loaded fries, Banzai Burger, Rice and Noodle bowls, Bao buns and more

It would come as no surprise to regular readers that I had all my focus on the Rice/Noodle bowl section of the menu.

They had three dishes on offer, a Korean Beef Rice Bowl, a Japanese Katsu curry Rice Bowl, and the Chef’s Special Noodles and I really wanted all three!

In the end I went with my heart and stayed in line with my love of the noodle ordering a bowl of the Udon Pak Kee Mao.

It helped that my dining companion fancied the Japanese Katsu curry with Chicken so I knew I would be able to get a taste of that as well 😎😍

CHEF’S SPECIAL NOODLES / UDON PAD KEE MAO

As I said I was having the Chef’s Special Noodles for £9.50 and without any spoilers I have mixed feelings about this dish.

The official name on the menu was ‘Udon Pad Kee Mao‘ which in layman’s terms was described as ‘Thick Japanese noodles, stir fried in Chef May’s spicy sauce, crispy chicken, garlic, chilli, basil, carrot, green beans’

I was very happy to see that big pile of crispy chicken on the top, it was a lot more than I had expected, and it was really most enjoyable.

Classic bit of fried chicken, crisp coating and moist chicken breast. I could have eaten a whole bowl just of that on it’s own

Underneath lay the noodles which whilst I did enjoy the flavours of the sauce, they turned out to be a bit too spicy for me on this occasion.

I suppose I should have known better as these are the famed ‘drunken noodles’ which are supposed to be high on the chilli

I did my best and almost cleared my bowl but hey I have a mouth warmed up well with that hit of spice afterwards and almost regretted my choice 😎🧐

JAPANESE KATSU CURRY RICE BOWL

The second dish we had was the Japanese Katsu curry Rice Bowl also for £9.50 described on the menu as being a ‘Rich umami Japanese curry sauce with potato, carrot, onion, and green peas served over steamed rice with your choice of Katsu Chicken, Panko Prawn or Katsu Aubergine‘

This bowl came with the same excellent crispy fried chicken and a thick dark brown Katsu sauce or gravy.

It was a much darker than I usually find perhaps they had cooked it from scratch instead of from one of those classic cubes you find in the supermarket.

I liked it and even liked the frozen peas that were floating about

Once you work your way down through the chicken and sauce you will find a large mound of sticky white rice in the base of the bowl. Perhaps more sensible diners would have saved more sauce and chicken to mix into the rice.

Less sensible diners sitting nearby were taking advantage of that plain white rice to ease the pain of the chilli from their noodle bowl! 🤣

All in all, I personally would have the Katsu Curry bowl again but I would be cautious of the spicy noodles,

I definitely met my match today. I think I would be tempted to try the Korean Beef or perhaps a selection of their Boa buns.

Banzai Street Food can be found inside the Cornhill Market street food hall in Lincoln at Stall number 7 check them out on their Facebook page and Instagram profile

Cornhill Market is located on Sincil Street, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN5 7ET.

Check them out on their website, their Facebook page and Instagram profile